Saturday, January 14, 2006

Canadian Elections coming up

In case you weren't aware. Paul Martin, of the Liberal party, is on his way out, as the Liberals have been hammered recently by scandals left and right. The fun thing about Canadian politics is that minority parties, forming coalitions, can force elections before they are due. It's called a vote of no confidence in the party in power. If you saw the Episode One of Star Wars, you recall that princess Amidala brought down the chancellor that way, clearing the way for Palpatine's ascendancy. Public sentiment against Martin's stay in the PM spot is at a crescendo, and so the Conservatives are on the rise. Not that I'm equating Stephen Harper with Darth Sideous.The election is on January 23rd, which is tough for Canadians, as this is winter and parts of the country are going to be under lots of snow and bearing temperatures below zero.Frankly, the Liberals have enjoyed a pretty long stay in a position of power, or part of the coalition in power, and the rise of the Conservatives is a remarkable thing. One writer remarked that if the Canadians were allowed to vote in the US 2004 elections, Kerry would have beaten Bush by astronomical numbers.However, even the fairly liberal Canadian press is altering it's direction of fire. Target: Martin and the Liberals.